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> there are limitations to debit cards (e.g. you can’t rent cars) This sounds pretty specific to the USA. Here in Europe you certainly can rent a car with a de

> there are limitations to debit cards (e.g. you can’t rent cars) This sounds pretty specific to the USA. Here in Europe you certainly can rent a car with a debit card.

r0s 2y ago
You certainly can in the US too, they "pre-authorize" some token amount to be sure you have the funds and off you go.
- nh2 2y ago
  This did not work for me in the USA and Canada, where the pre-authorisation attempt failed with a debit card but worked with a credit card (from the same bank) in 3 different places when renting cars.
  - slackfan 2y ago
    Pre-auth amounts over hit over maximum withdrawal limits for debit cards. Often times those are furiously low, like 300-500 dollars a day. Call your bank and find out.
    - codetrotter 2y ago
      That’s interesting. I suppose having an “old bank” also affects things. For example, some times in other situations my debit card also rejects big purchases or new countries or some reservations of funds from some new hotel when I check in. But because they are pretty modern they also have an app that notifies me of the rejection at the same time as the terminal is told that it was rejected and so I can go in to the app and say this is actually ok and then I try again and then it goes through. Maybe what people need is really this kind of thing like what I have with my card and the app.
jbstack 2y ago
I've traveled fairly extensively around Europe and you do indeed need a credit card in the majority of cases. Some rental agencies will accept a debit card but it's risky to just turn up on the assumption that they will. You can find yourself without a car or forced to take up very expensive excess insurance. I've personally had this happen to me more than once and I now travel with a credit card which I have just for car rental purposes. When you book a rental car through an online comparison site, you will almost always see in the small print that bringing a credit card with you is one of the requirements. If you're taking out insurance by default then you may not notice that this is an issue because you're effectively paying to reduce the excess to £0 instead of blocking a deposit on a credit card for them to charge from in the event that you damage the car.

> there are limitations to debit cards (e.g. you can’t rent cars) This sounds pretty specific to the USA. Here in Europe you certainly can rent a car with a debit card.

r0s 2y ago

You certainly can in the US too, they "pre-authorize" some token amount to be sure you have the funds and off you go.

nh2 2y ago
This did not work for me in the USA and Canada, where the pre-authorisation attempt failed with a debit card but worked with a credit card (from the same bank) in 3 different places when renting cars.
- slackfan 2y ago
  Pre-auth amounts over hit over maximum withdrawal limits for debit cards. Often times those are furiously low, like 300-500 dollars a day. Call your bank and find out.
  - codetrotter 2y ago
    That’s interesting. I suppose having an “old bank” also affects things. For example, some times in other situations my debit card also rejects big purchases or new countries or some reservations of funds from some new hotel when I check in. But because they are pretty modern they also have an app that notifies me of the rejection at the same time as the terminal is told that it was rejected and so I can go in to the app and say this is actually ok and then I try again and then it goes through. Maybe what people need is really this kind of thing like what I have with my card and the app.

jbstack 2y ago

I've traveled fairly extensively around Europe and you do indeed need a credit card in the majority of cases. Some rental agencies will accept a debit card but it's risky to just turn up on the assumption that they will. You can find yourself without a car or forced to take up very expensive excess insurance. I've personally had this happen to me more than once and I now travel with a credit card which I have just for car rental purposes. When you book a rental car through an online comparison site, you will almost always see in the small print that bringing a credit card with you is one of the requirements. If you're taking out insurance by default then you may not notice that this is an issue because you're effectively paying to reduce the excess to £0 instead of blocking a deposit on a credit card for them to charge from in the event that you damage the car.